Ginger Root Compounds: Toxic To Cancer Cells

By NMD. Reviewed by NMD

In the August 2014 issue of "In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology," researchers appear to be the first to present evidence demonstrating the dose depentent affects of the compound gingeraol-10, limiting the growth of human cancer cells by 50%.[1]

Ginger root, Zingiber officinale, is made up of hundreds biologically active compounds that include gingeraols and shogaols, which are of special interest to medical researchers for their toxic affects on human cancer cells. These compounds alter chemical pathways, shown to inhibit human cancer growth, involving a process called "apoptosis," a series of chemically programmed DNA events leading to the natural demise of cancer cells without affecting healthy surrounding tissue.

The chemo-therapy potential of these compounds have been studied for years by universities around the world. Another recent study from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in India, was published in Aug 2014, involving colon cancer cells. Using a mouse model study, they successfully mapped the molecular pathways of Ginerol-6, providing evidence for ginger root's anticancer and chemo-preventive properties. [2]